


How to Win Super Friends and Influence Villains

by Ninjangsta



Category: Iron Fist (TV), Jessica Jones (TV), Luke Cage (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Bromance, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-04 22:50:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14030562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninjangsta/pseuds/Ninjangsta
Summary: "I tried being a one-man army, and it failed. But this... This feels like something else is at work here. The four of us show up to fight a criminal organization and the same moment? How obvious does it have to be? This... cannot be an accident."Luke knew Danny meant well when he tried to convince them all that teaming up was their best option, and in the end, it definitely seemed so. But in the moment he just wanted to roll his eyes at the guy, and Jessica just wanted to punch him in his face. After the events at Midland Circle, and minus one vigilante, the other Defenders try to move on with their lives, on their separate paths. It's only a matter of time before those paths intersect, again.





	1. Everbody Stay Calm

**Author's Note:**

> To be honest, this story is a work in progress and I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with it, but I do have a few ideas. I've read some of the Power Man and Iron Fist and LOVE their friendship in the comics and wish there was more fiction out their focused on that, so generally I'm aiming for a story about that. Jessica might end up playing a pretty big part too though, because I love and relate to her character the most, and Daredevil might be included later.

 

 

 

While Luke has warmed up to the idea of being a hero of sorts, he hasn’t completely bought into it. He realizes he has abilities that normal people don’t have, and that puts him in a particularly special position to do some good. It’s not that he didn’t want to do good before, he just wanted to live his life. He didn’t ask for these abilities. This was done to him.

After everything though, losing Pops and after what went down with the Hand, his life had come to focus in a whole new light. No, he didn’t ask for this, and yes, he’d been dealt some shit cards. Now, though, Luke could see the good in the world again and all the people still worth loving and all the lives still worth living. He also saw the bad and how that bad threatened to swallow the good every day. He couldn’t just stand by and watch that bad take hold when he was more than capable of doing something about it. He didn’t ask for this power, but he has it now and he’d be damned if he didn’t use to make the best possible impact.

He had to admit though, it was cold nights like these that he’d rather be at home with his lady and not out on the streets playing Power Man. He knows she’d probably prefer that too. While Claire understood very well the importance of what Luke did for Harlem, and really the entire city at this point, she also had developed more anxiety since what had happened to Matt Murdock.

_“I know I can’t stop you, just as much as I knew I couldn’t stop Matt. And really I don’t want to, because what you do is part of what makes you_ you _and I love you for who you are, completely and wholly.”_

_Claire had said to him before he left her apartment this evening, hands placed gently on both sides of his face._

_“But that doesn’t stop me from worrying.”_

_L_ _uke pulled her hands away from his face and held them together in his. He leaned down to let their foreheads touch._

" _I know.” He says. “But… as much respect as I have for Matt… I’m not him. Helping people is what I do, but it’s not all I have. I have you. And I have every intention in coming back home to you. I wouldn’t do anything to risk losing that. I love you.”_

_A smile as beautiful as the sunrise lit up Claire’s face and she leaned in for a kiss._

" _Besides," He says. "I'm just going out to patrol and check things out in Murdock's neighborhood. You know how calm things have been lately, I just wanna try and keep it that way."_

  _“I love you too." She says, but then her smile fades. "But that calm is exactly what I'm worried about. You know this city. There's crazy shit lurking around every corner.”_

_Claire gripped his hands back tightly and gave them a little shake, and with that, her face suddenly grew stern._

_“And you’re damn right you’re coming back home to me, even if I have to drag your super powered ass back myself.”_

_Luke’s eyebrows shot up in mock surprise. “Whoa, baby, now I believe you owe the swear jar…”_

_“Sshhhh…” Claire put a slender finger on his lips to quiet him._

_“Just go get done what you need to so you can get back here to me.” She turned to head toward the bedroom, then stopped just outside the threshold. She turned just enough for him see another one of those gorgeous smiles of hers._

_“I’ll be waiting…”_

Luke warmed up with recent memory. Damn, he needed to get home.

But first, he had something to take care of…

He has found himself in Hell’s Kitchen for the first in a while.

Things really had been relatively quiet the past several months since the Midland Circle incident. It was a much needed vacation from the action packed drama that had become his life. But he shared Claire's suspicions and found it almost unnerving. While he was glad to see that maybe his and all fellow crime fighters’ efforts weren't in vain, he couldn't help but feel like he was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The streets had hardly even needed him lately. Luke had felt more like a mascot than anything. With the elimination of Cottonmouth, Mariah, Shades, the Hand, and the illegitimate brother he didn’t even want to think about now, crime had been down. That didn’t mean there wasn’t the occasional dumb thug thinking they were smooth enough to get away with some petty crime, but lately all the criminals he’d encountered felt like small fish, especially after dealing with a syndicate as organized, ancient, and mystical as the Hand. Not the he was complaining. The quiet just made him feel more on edge.

The relative quiet in Harlem, however, allowed him to branch outside of that neighborhood a bit more. It gave him the opportunity to patrol Hell’s Kitchen from time to time. It was the least he could do for Matt. He’d hardly known the guy, but he might admit he’d developed a slight bond with the fellow vigilante. And according to Danny, it had been the man’s dying wish for them to protect his city.

Thinking of Danny, Luke wondered what the that goofy kid had been up to lately. Since what had happened at Midland Circle, Luke had put much of his focus on Claire and had taken the break to try and readjust to “normal” life.

Aside from meeting Jessica for drinks and Claire inviting Danny and Colleen over for dinner a couple times, he hadn’t exactly stayed in touch with his super-powered “acquaintances”. That was expected though, right? He didn’t need to spell it out for Jessica. She knew and agreed completely, but he had told Danny bluntly that he wasn’t looking for super friends.

Of coarse he'd gained more respect for the Iron Fist after everything they’d been through in such a short amount of time, but they were still just two very different people leading very different lives. As for Jessica, he’ll always care deeply for her and he’s more than forgiven her for everything, but there was way too much painful history there for them to see a whole lot of each other.

So here Luke Cage found himself, from time to time playing hero again. Mostly though he was just trying to guard and protect the calm waters he’d claimed after a long, hellish, freak storm… and hopefully move on with his life.

Right now he’s in what is supposedly shadier part of town, and this particular area seems to be lacking in adequate lighting. It’s dark and many of the buildings probably need to be condemned if they haven’t been already. He wonders if this part of town had been hit by the Incident.

It definitely is quiet…. Luke thinks, and he’s considering just calling it a night when....

**_Crash!_ **

 Maybe not?

 The sound stops him in his tracks, but he’s aware it could be anything. He needs to be sure though, so he remains paused for a moment to listen.

_**Clang!** _

He turns in the direction of the ruckus and listens for more. A man cries out in pain, and with that he immediately moves into action.

The commotion seems to be coming from a building just up ahead so he jogs the remaining distance. It’s dark around the building, and it appears to be abandoned. An old warehouse, it appears.

Luke walks along the perimeter of the building, looking for the best way in. Many of the windows are boarded up, not that that’s really a barrier for him, but he still prefers to use doors and to not bust through walls and windows.

Finally, he comes to a large metal door and he pries it open with only a little effort.  
It’s definitely dark in here and he can hardly see a thing. He could be walking into anything and not have a clue. Luke might be big and powerful, and generally smooth, but in the dark he feels vulnerable. He never thought he’d envy a blind man, but right now he wishes he had Daredevil’s abilities. He’s considering calling out, but he also thinks the element of surprise might work in his favor so the potential assailant isn’t prepared for what’s coming at him.

 Shuffling along the concrete floor, the large, bulletproof man tries to avoid stumbling while remaining as stealthy as possible. His efforts nearly go out the window though when his foot catches on something and he does stumble, just a little. Luke looks down, trying to get his eyes to focus in the low light, but he can’t make out what exactly it is. He nudges it with his foot and gets the nagging feeling that it might be a person, so he kneels and reaches down and feels that yes, it is indeed a person. Said person seems to be breathing, and from what he can tell, not bleeding, so he at least has that going for him.

 "Hey…” Luke says quietly and gives the unconscious subject a gentle shake.

 The sound of a scuffle somewhere over to his left alerts Luke again, and he decides he should handle the potential threat first. Standing again, he heads toward the noise preparing to insert himself in what sounds like an already active fight. He can make out two silhouettes, both moving so fast in the dark his eyes can hardly keep track of them. With the sound of a soft thud, he thinks that might at least be one less person to deal with, but he’s not sure what side of the fight he’s about to engage. The good or the bad? Are they both bad? And there’s so much grey these days, who knows anymore.

 The way the remaining shadowy figure seemed to move was reminiscent of how the Hand ninjas moved, but then again, aside from boxing, Luke was lost when it came to all the other martial arts so it could be anyone really. It's so dark, the only thing Luke can make out are the racing stripes down the sides of the guy's... track suit? For a ninja type, the guy really should learn to be more subtle. He does have a hood up though, casting an even darker shadow over his face and effectively hiding his identity.

 "Hey man, we don’t have to..." Luke starts, but is rudely interrupted by a foot flying toward his face.

 He'd hate to admit he that he wasn't quite prepared for it, but really the foot just kind of bounces off him anyway. He was about to give mystery tracksuit ninja guy a fair warning before things get too out of hand, but apparently no one in this town is down for talking things out anymore and just go straight to fisticuffs.

 Luke never gets the chance to get another word out as track ninja doesn't even wait a beat before continuing to strike hard and fast and now the shadowy figure is a nothing but a flurry of fists and feet coming at him.

Luke bothers to block a few hits just out of instinct, but he has to admit the guy is skilled and quick and he can't seem to keep up with him or catch him. He feels a lot like a gorilla trying to swat a humming bird. After a moment, something about the way this shadow moves clicks with Luke, and it dawns on the bigger man who he might very well be fighting in the dark.

 "Sweet sister..." Luke mutters under his breath and shakes his head after stopping and holding on the guy's fist going in for a left hook, the other man freezing. For a moment the only sounds are the fighter’s rapid  breaths. Luke wants to roll his eyes and laugh at the ridiculousness of this situation, not even knowing for sure but almost positive he's engaged in a fight in the pitch black with a certain hotheaded former ally. Funny, considering how they met the first time.

They should really both learn to communicate verbally more. Claire had made a remark before, something about vigilantes and how sanctimonious they can be but they can't communicate like a normal, functioning human being in order to avoid conflict. 

Luke smiles a little too himself, but the smile quickly fades when he receives a definite answer to his question with the telltale yellow glow of Danny Rand's right fist. Danny has it reeled back and ready to strike and suddenly this isn't funny to Luke anymore. It's all fun and games until the kid's fist glows, and Luke knows from experience that it can and definitely _will_ hurt.

The moment seems to be playing out in slow motion as the power of the Iron Fist comes towards him and without even thinking Luke surprises himself in reacting to the threat in a timely manner. The older man can see the instant recognition flashes in the kid's eyes, his fist lighting up Luke's profile, but they both know its too late to go back now. Luke's acting in the pure instinct of self defense and simply moves just enough to the side to clear Danny's fist.

Also out of instinct and without thought, in the same motion of dodging the hit, he throws a strong hand out of his own and gives a healthy shove in the center Danny's chest. The move is awkward and just graceful enough to save Luke's chiseled face, but it’s also powerful enough to send the Immortal Iron Fist flying 20 or so feet in opposite direction, landing in a heap in a now broken and shattered pile of old crates.

He can't speak for Danny, and at this point maybe Danny can't even speak for Danny, but he's a little stunned by his own quick reflexes.

Danny gasps and coughs, Luke's hit apparently having knocked the air out of him. Luke snaps out his brief shock and approaches the younger man, feeling a little guilty. He'd gotten better at understanding and controlling his strength over the years out of fear of breaking things and hurting people, but in an instance like this he's scared to admit he might lose that control. He could've really hurt Danny.

 "We've gotta stop meeting like this, brother"

 "Luke?" The bigger man winces as Danny practically coughs out the name. Luke can still barely make out his face in the dark but the kid is looking up at him from his uncomfortable position lying in the rubble of broken crates.

Luke extends a hand to help him up.

 "Yeah, sorry about that man. I saw your fist coming at me and just kinda reacted."

 Danny just blinks at him for a moment as he's still trying to process everything and catch his breath.

 "You ok?" Luke waves his hand a little.

 Danny seems to catch up to speed and gives a little nod.

 "Uh, heh... Uh yeah totally. Yeah I'm fine." He stammers as he reaches out and grips Luke's hand.

 The bigger man pulls him to his feet effortlessly and Danny immediately recoils and holds a hand to his chest.

 "Shit..." He hisses.

 Luke grips his shoulder to steady him.

 "You sure?"

 Danny straightens a little and manages to regain some composure. "I'll live."

 Luke scoffs and shakes his head.

 "You're damn lucky to. What the hell are you thinking, attacking people in the dark! It could've been anybody! Boy, you need to stop punching first and asking questions later before someone gets hurt."

The younger man rubs his chest and looks at the ground.

 “Sorry, I guess I just got caught up in the moment. I thought you were one of them.” He waves a hand in the general direction of where the other person he’d been fighting was knocked out.

 “Well I don’t know how things worked in…. mystical Kung Fu land...”

 “K’un Lun...”

 “… whatever man… but here in the real world, aside from all that Hand nonsense, there isn’t typically a crazy horde of ninjas just popping off a conveyer belt somewhere, made for you to fight. There are other people in this city… regular, mortal human beings that you can seriously hurt, if you’re not careful. You’ve gotta learn to calm down and control yourself.” 

“I’m sick of everyone telling me to calm down, and I have plenty of control!”

 "Obviously.”

 Danny huffs. Luke can tell he wants to defend himself more, but he sounds tired and maybe just doesn’t have the energy, so instead he grows quiet. It's off-putting to the bigger man.

Luke takes a deep breath and decides to let it go for the moment. He looks around for whoever it was Danny was fighting in the first place.

“So….. who’s _them_ anyway?”

 Danny seems to come back to himself more.

 "That’s what I was trying to figure out, but they didn’t seem to want to share that with me.” He starts in the direction of the latest fallen man, back towards where he and Luke had been fighting before the Power Man knocked him clear across the room. Luke follows.

“Shit, where did he go?” Danny’s scanning the floor, but neither of them can really see.

 “Here, how ‘bout some light.” Luke pulls his phone out and turns on the flashlight app and scans the area himself.

 “May I?” Danny reaches for the phone and Luke lets him have. He looks around for his supposedly beaten opponents.

 “He was just right here!”

“You sure he was really out?”

 “He was literally just here…” Danny's becoming frantic in his search.

 Luke walks in the direction of the first guy he’d literally stumbled upon and isn’t all that surprised to find there’s nobody there.

“Well, they’re both gone now. How many _were_ there to begin with?”

Not wanting to let it go, Danny continues to look around.

“Uh, two? I think?” He mutters distractedly.

 Luke looks around from his spot. While he can’t see much when Danny has control of the light, he has a feeling they’re the only two people around. He throws up his hands.

“There’s no one else here Danny. They must’ve recovered and took off when we were fighting.”

“Then I need to find them.” Sounding determined, he heads for the nearest exit, which at this point is the door that Luke had pried open. He notices Danny’s still holding a hand to his chest.

He hands Luke his phone as he passes, but before he can get much further, the bigger man grabs his shoulder.

 “Wait a minute.”

“What?” Danny snaps. 

“I don’t know what’s going on with you, but I think you need to give it a rest for the night.”

“They’re still out there Luke, I can’t just let them get away.” He shrugs off the older man’s hand.

“I get that, but….. going back out there injured and exhausted isn’t going to do anyone any favors. I’m not tryna’ rag on you, I’m just saying you’re putting yourself in unnecessary danger….. if not, someone else.”

Danny shakes his head. “Thanks _Dad_ , but we’re going our separate paths. Remember?”

He turns back toward door.

_“You know, maybe people wouldn’t treat you like a child if you didn’t act like one so often?”_ Luke wants to say, but he thinks better of it and bites his tongue. He may not know the guy that well, but if he knows anything about him, it’s to not antagonize him. Besides, he can tell he’s just worn out. Apparently, Danny had taken Matt’s charge very seriously.

Luke shoves past the initial annoyance from the comment and then suddenly feels very shitty for what he’d told the younger man when they were first getting to know each other. He really did want to push Danny away in the beginning, but now, having him here in front of him, he just felt bad. Just like how he’d felt like he had a responsibility to use his powers for good, he also all of the sudden feels responsible for counseling the young vigilante.

“Just listen to me for a moment, Danny.” He says as he follows him outside into the alley.

Danny ignores him though and continues walking.

“I know what I said about parting ways after defeating The Hand. A lot happened after we had that discussion at the Royal Dragon though, and I’m not saying we should be the _New Avengers_ or anything, but maybe having each other’s backs isn’t such a bad idea.”

Danny stops, and while still facing away from Luke he bows his head.

“Come on man, don’t we have to fight enough as it is without having to fight each other? It was wrong of me to think we couldn’t be useful together.” Luke stops and shrugs. “… at least on some level.”

The blonde turns to face him finally and sighs. They stare at each other for a moment and Danny looks like he wants to say something, but he can’t seem to find the words, so Luke jumps back in.

“Look, we can talk about this more later, but right now… what do you say you come back to Claire’s with me so she can check you out? I’m sure she’d like to see you anyway.”

Danny thinks it over a moment before giving him a nod.

“Yeah, ok.”

 

Luke’s relieved to call it a night, but he also still can’t shake the feeling that he’s about to hear that other shoe drop.

 


	2. The Message

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire is dealing with some of her own demons when Luke returns to the apartment with Danny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slow update, life got the best of me these past couple weeks. Thank you so much for the kudos and comments!

 

   


_Claire finds herself wandering the bowels of Midland Circle, lost, confused, and scared. Where the hell did Colleen go? Misty? Even Bakuto… where the hell did everybody go?_ _She sees pipes and bars and white walls and a white ceiling, flickering florescent lights. It’s eerily quiet until…_

_“CLAIRE!” A pained and panicked scream echoes down the hall._

_It sounds like Colleen, and hearing the cry makes her adrenaline spike and her stomach drop._

_"_ _Colleen?! Where are you?!” She calls out looking around frantically._

_It sounded like it was just down the hall, and maybe around the corner. She runs in that direction._

_“Colleen!” Claire calls out again, and when she turns the corner and is sure she’ll be reunited with her possibly injured friend, she’s a bit surprised when she sees nothing but another corridor. She’s about to call out again when another scream rings out from further down the hall._

_“_ _CLAIRE! HELP ME!” This one sounds like a male voice. Danny’s voice._

_He sounds in agony._

_“Danny. Danny! I’m coming! Colleen?! Where are you guys?!”_

_She picks up her pace. The fluorescent lights are going out as she passes them. She feels like she’s being led by them._  
_Is this some kind of trap? She wonders._

_“_ _Danny! Colleen! Just wait, I’m coming! Just hold on!” She reaches an elevator. It looks janky as hell, but she’s almost positive it’s were she needs to go. The doors open before she even pushes the button._

_“CLAIRE, HELP ME! I NEED YOU!” It’s Jessica this time._

_Claire has never heard her sound so broken and vulnerable. It’s coming from somewhere down below._

_“_ _Jessica, just wait! I’m coming everybody, just hold on!”_

_She goes to push a button to go to… there are no buttons. Claire blinks at where there should be a panel of buttons, but there’s nothing. Suddenly she feels very out of control._

_“_ _What the hell…” She starts to panic, looking around frantically._

_She feels her stomach in her throat as the elevator begins to drop on it’s own, way too fast for comfort. She hears all the cries ringing out in some sort of ghastly chorus._

_“ClAIRE!”_

_“_ _HELP ME!”_

_“CLAIRE, I NEED YOU!”_

_“PLEASE!”_

_“IT HURTS! PLEASE CLAIRE, HELP!”_

_She leans heavily against the back wall of the elevator, still feeling it plummet further into the earth at an alarming rate._

_“I’m trying. Please, believe me, I’m trying! Just hold on, I won’t leave you! I can help you!” She desperately calls out in response, but they don’t seem to hear her. She feels helpless listening to their cries and not being able to get to them, to take away their pain._

_To her relief though, the elevator comes to a gradual and surprisingly gentle halt.  She pushes off the wall and stands straight, looking at the door expectantly but a little afraid of what’s on the other side._

_It opens with a slow and unsettling creek._

_It’s dark, mostly, except for a single red spot light in the distance._

_“Guys?” Claire calls out warily._

_She steps out of the elevator with hesitation, squinting, trying to see what’s in the spot light. She can’t make it out for some reason._

_“Hey. Colleen? Danny? Are you guys down here?” She comes closer to the object in the spot light, her pace picking up when it begins to take the shape of a person, laying face down._

_“Hey, are you ok?” She runs up to them, her heart sinking as the distance closes between them._

_It’s a man, he’s wearing a tight, red suit of armor, and he’s in a pool of thick crimson liquid._

_“Matt?! Hey, talk to me!” She drops to her knees besidet he body clutches him with both hands, trying to turn him over._

_“Matt, please! Please, I tried…” She stops, shocked and confused when the man she has turned over is suddenly not Matt Murdock, but the love of her life._

_T_ _he glazed and lifeless eyes of Luke Cage gaze back at her and she can feel something inside her crumbling apart._

_“Luke, baby…” She mutters, staring uncomprehendingly at the corpse of her lover._

_“You can’t always save us.” A man’s voice sounds behind her._

_She jumps, turning quickly to face the stranger._ _No…. not a stranger. It’s Daredevil standing behind her in the dim light, blood seemingly dripping from every part of him. She’s not sure where it’s coming from exactly, maybe everywhere?_

_“_ _What?” She just watches him from her spot, still kneeling next to Luke with a hand full of his shirt, not wanting to let go._

_“You can't keep saving us. We’ll all just keep running into the fire, and you’ll follow us.”_

_“_ _No. I can help you. It’ll be ok. You will all be ok!” She snaps at him and turns back to her seemingly dead boyfriend._

_“Luke, please. You’re right, you’re not Matt. You're not like the rest of them. You can’t die too.” She shakes him and is a little startled when his eyes actually do fix on her._

_“_ _Luke?”_

_“The thing about Martyrs is the good ones end up dead.” Her own voice hisses in her ear._

 

Claire wakes up with a jolt. Eyes suddenly wide open, she’s drenched in sweat and can feel her heart pounding in her chest. A nightmare. It was just a nightmare. She’d fallen asleep on the couch reading a book, waiting up for Luke. Apparently she’d been more worried him going out tonight than she’d thought.

Claire had never considered herself an anxious person and had always prided herself in being thick-skinned and level headed. It’s not that she isn’t still (for the most part), it’s just that this life she’s fallen into over the past few years is starting to wear on her, or more like the people in her life are testing her limits. She feels like she needs to get a grip on herself though.

She untangles herself from the throw blanket she’d draped over her legs before and sits up, trying to shake the uneasy feeling that lingered from her nightmare. She runs her fingers through her hair and just sits in the quiet for a moment with her head in her hands, taking a few deep breaths in attempt to calm herself.

“I’m ok. Luke is ok. Everyone and everything is ok.” She reassures herself.

Her little mantra of “everything is ok” was enough to help her heart rate slow to a more reasonable pace, so she takes one last deep breath before finally lifting her head up from her hands.

She looks around at the room and takes in the physical space of her mother’s apartment. The warm colors, the knickknacks, the plush furniture, the combined smells of various spices and just a hint of Pine-Sol that she’d come to associate with home. She manages to find warmth and peace in that, surrounded by her mother’s things. She feels at home, and at home she feels safe. And Luke would be back soon to enjoy that safety and warmth with her, because he was ok.

She sits up straight at the sound of footsteps coming down the hall outside the apartment door.

That’s probably him coming now... She thinks to herself with relief.

Claire stands up from the couch as the front door was unlocked and opened, and she smiles as her tall, dark, handsome, and very much alive man walks through the door.

“Hey…” She starts toward him but stops when someone else walks in behind him and it takes a moment to register who.

“Oh… Danny.” Claire can't help but feel some of that anxiety seep back in. It’s not that she doesn't want to see him, but what good reason could the Iron Fist have to come visit her mom’s apartment, with Luke, at 3 o’ clock in the morning.

She knows the two men had mostly moved past the issues they had with each other in the beginning, but her attempts to encourage their friendship consistently fell flat in the months following the Midland Circle Incident.

“He hit me again.” Danny says flatly as he walks past Luke and plops down on the couch.

“More like shoved you, but you punched me first. Again.” Luke clarifies, shutting the door behind him.

Claire scoffs. “Jesus, what are you guys, 10?”

Danny is quiet but Luke chuckles a little as he shrugs off his Carhart jacket and hangs it up on the coat rack by the door. He walks up to Claire, who is standing by the couch still, and pecks her on the cheek.

“Nice to see you too, by the way. What has it been… about a month?” Claire mutters to the younger man as she picks up her blanket from the couch and folds it.

She saw Colleen relatively frequently as she was still taking self-defense lessons from her, and they met for lunch or tea every now and them. Danny, though, she’d seen a lot less of in the past few months. She’d tried regularly to reach out to him, but he seemed to always be busy, either with Rand or god knows what. She and Colleen talked about him from time to time, of course, and occasionally Colleen would express her concern about how he seemed to be stretching himself thin.

Right now, for some reason she couldn’t help but feel a little irritated with the man sitting on her mom’s couch. Maybe it was the stress having so many people in her life constantly putting themselves in danger. Maybe it was the lingering uneasiness from the nightmare. Maybe it was the fact that, except for Colleen, who had practically become her best friend over the past year, the others so often only came to see her when they needed something.

“Oh… sorry Claire…” Danny looks at her guiltily, then looks down like he’s suddenly very interested in the zipper on his hoodie and starts fidgeting with it. “I didn’t think about how late it was. Sorry if we woke you. It really is nice to see you though… I guess I’ve just been caught up in business at Rand and, you know, I’m terrible at that kind of stuff so it’s just been kinda crazy trying to figure things out and make the company better…” He stops when he looks back up at her.

Claire is just standing in front of him with flat look on her face.

“How are you?” He asks hesitantly.

“Fine, Danny. I’m fine.” She gives him a small smile.

He gave her a tired smile back.

"So… I assume this wasn’t planned and you two just ran into each other?” Claire looks back and forth between the two guys expectantly, but the only response she gets is Danny biting his lip and little nod and shrug from Luke.

“Ok…” She sighs and throws up a hand, the other still holding onto the blanket. “So, what’s wrong? Who’s hurt? What do I need to fix?”  
Danny shifts uncomfortably in his spot on the couch and for the first time she notices him clutching his chest. She hadn’t really looked at him too closely yet, but now she could see he looked exhausted, a little paler than usual and with dark circles under his eyes. Next to her, Luke gestures toward the younger man.

“Well, long story short, we had a bit of a scuffle and Danny took a hit to the chest.”

Danny’s face flushes like he’s embarrassed by the situation, and when Claire looks to Luke, he averts his eyes.

“It’s not that bad. I’m sure it’s just a bruise.” Danny tries to reassure her, but Claire is so thrown off by the oddness of their behavior and the situation that she doesn’t even acknowledge it.

Claire sets the blanket down on the arm of the couch and shakes her head, giving a little cynical laugh. “You know, in the beginning, I really thought you two could benefit from meeting each other.” She runs her fingers through her hair. “Now I’m thinking I’ll be lucky if you don’t kill each other.”

Her irritation melts a little when Danny cracks a small smile and in turn looks at Luke, who rolls his eyes but also can’t help by smile a little.

Lord knows she loves them, but damn it all if these vigilante types didn’t drive her straight into the ground with all the hell they put her through. Never would she turn them away though, when they come to her for help. They save the city, and she saves them. It’s what they do, it’s what she does. Loving and caring for people is her purpose, and she knows it.

The former nurse goes to the coat closet and pulls out a bag with some of her medical supplies in it. She ruffles through it for just a moment to pull out a stethoscope and moves to sit on the coffee table in front of Danny.

“Alright, loose the hoodie and shirt.”

Danny very gingerly removes the clothing, Claire helping him get his undershirt the rest the way over his head, seeing as the he seemed to be having some trouble with it.

“Shit…” Claire winces at the sight of the bruising on his chest that was blossoming over his sternum and from body of his dragon tattoo.

“You said Luke hit you? You did that?” She turns to her boyfriend, who looks mildly guilty, but he puts his hands up in defense.

“Like I said… kung fu kid over there started it.” He jabs a finger at Danny, who just sighs in resignation.

Claire isn’t sure she wants to know why they were fighting each other, but she’s sure Luke wouldn’t hurt the kid on purpose, no matter how much he wanted to sometimes.

Luke walks over to the reclining chair and takes a seat.

“It doesn’t matter right now, we’ll fill you in later.” He says to Claire.

“And you.” He turns to Danny. “… will fill us in later too. But I suggest we tackle one thing at a time.”

Claire nods.” Suggestion heeded.”

She turns back to Danny and gently prods at his chest. He sucks in a sharp breath and flinches when she touches the bruised area.

“Stop moving.” She tells him.

“That hurts.” He groans.

“I’m sure.”

“Then why are doing that?”

“Does this hurt?”

“Shit!”

Luke chuckles a little in the background and Danny glares at him.

“Is this funny to you?”

The older man’s face grows serious. “Hey man, you practically did this to yourself.”

Danny’s face flushes again, but this time with anger and Claire groans internally.

She grips the younger man’s shoulder and gives them both of them a stern look. “Hey, I thought we were past this?”

Both Danny and Luke sit back in their seats, looking like scolded children.

The nurse shakes her head again. Sometimes she feels like everyone’s mother. She was always the one that needed to stay calm and be the voice of reason. Always the one that needed to play mediator and deescalator. It was exhausting sometimes.

She leans closer to Danny and places the stethoscope to his chest.

“Take a deep breath for me.”

He does so easily, albeit painfully. His breaths sound smooth and unhindered and she’s not particularly concerned about his lungs at the time being. She moves the stethoscope around a couple times, listening to his heartbeat as well, which sounds healthy enough. She sits back and removes the earpieces from her ears.

“Well, everything sounds ok, I don’t think there’s any serious internal damage. It’s hard to say if anything is fractured, without an x-ray, but I don’t think anything is broken. Maybe just bruised. I suggest you ice it for the night and just take it easy for a while. If anything changes or you start having difficulties breathing, let me know, immediately.”

She looks at him sternly and Danny simply nods at her, but after thinking a moment, she adds, “Or go to a hospital. Because that’s what hospitals are for.”

Danny looks a little taken aback. “This was his idea.” He waves to Luke a little accusingly.

Luke scoffs. “Hey, I was just trying to keep you from going back out there and hurting yourself worse, or somebody else, because that’s exactly the track you were on, man.”

Claire stops that right there. “No, let me clarify. It’s not that I don’t want to help you Danny, you guys both know I’d do it in a heartbeat. I’m always here for you, no matter what… But …. you guys also know I’m not a doctor, right? And unless I miraculously develop super powers too, like maybe some sort of healing ability or at the very least x-ray vision, I have my limits on what I can do for you.”

“Don’t sell yourself short Claire.” Luke adds.

“Oh no honey, this is not a matter of confidence. I’ve been through enough to know that I am more than capable of a lot of things, but I’m also very realistic. There are some things a nurse just isn’t qualified to do, and this apartment simply does not have the resources that a modern hospital has.”

Both men are quiet, and she feels a little guilty for ranting, but it’s the truth. She’s just scared that one of these days, some one is going to come with her with a problem she just can’t fix. Matt is gone now, and while she’s well aware there’s nothing she could have done about that, she can hardly bare the thought of losing someone else.

“Hey babe, can I talk to you for a moment, in the other room?” Luke’s gentle voice carries her away from her thoughts.

“Yeah.” She glances at Danny, who gives her a nod.

Claire follows Luke into their bedroom for a little privacy.

“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to come out so harsh, but I am serious.” She crosses her arms and leans against the door frame, just inside the room.

Luke sits on the bed.

“No need to apologize, baby. I understand what you’re saying.”

“Ok, I appreciate that. But what’s up? What did you need to talk about?”

“First of all, are you ok?” He gives her a concerned look.

She’s not used to being the subject of concern. It’s unsettling, to be honest.

She takes in a deep breath and unfolds her arms.

“I’m always telling everybody else about how theY need to communicate their feelings and deal with their shit, but her I am…” Claire shakes her head, feeling a little dumb, but also recognizing how ridiculous that is.

She sits on the bed next to her boyfriend.

"I’m fine Luke, mostly. I just worry about you guys.” She glances outside the room at Danny, who seems to be making himself more comfortable on the couch.

“I know, I’m sorry.” Luke says.

She shakes her head. “No, don’t be sorry. I asked for this, really. I chose this life, just like you guys chose yours... and I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

Luke grabs one of her hands and squeezes it.

“I guess what happened to Matt shook me up more than I realized.” Claire says and rests her head on his shoulder and the both sit in silence for a moment.

“I know. I think I’m coming to the same realization.” Luke agrees.

Claire lifts her head to look at him. “Yeah?”

“Yeah…” He’s the one to glance out the door this time, thinking for a moment before elaborating.

“That’s the other thing I wanted to talk about.” He nods his head in the direction of the living area outside the room. “To be honest, I hadn’t thought about the others much lately. I guess I’ve been so wrapped up in just trying to get back on my feet these past few months, trying to readjust to life on the outside and just enjoying having you around.” He looks down at her and gives her a soft smile, but the smile fades a little when he continues. “When I finally realized it was Danny out there tonight, and I saw how much he seemed to be struggling, something kinda dawned on me.”

Claire rose a brow in question. “What?”

“What happened to Matt didn’t have to happen. He could’ve walked out of that building with the rest of us. There’s no good reason he shouldn’t have. We didn’t go down there to save one of us, just to lose another. Now I don’t know for sure why he felt he needed to stay down there. Maybe he felt he didn’t have anything else, or anyone else... but Elektra. I don’t know. But what I do know is I’m sure as hell not going to stand by and let something like that happen again. This life and this city is rough enough as it is, we need to watch out for each other. How are we gonna look out for this city if we can’t look out for ourselves?”

Claire finds strength in the determination she hears in his voice. She squeezes his hand back and smiles.

“So does this mean you two are finally going to be friends?” She ribs him.

His seriousness crumbles and he laughs a little.

“Now I don’t know if I’d go that far.”

“Oh, come on. Face it, tough guy...” Claire bumps him with her shoulder. “…ya’ll are gonna be super-pals, you know it.”

“Don’t push it.” He jokingly warns, but she’s still smiling at him.

“We should get back out there with Danny.” Claire stretches and yawns. “… and tell him to go home to Colleen. I’m sure she’s worried and I don’t know about you all, but I am tired.”

They both stand and head back out into the living area to find Danny fast asleep and snoring softly on the couch. He’s still sitting up, mostly, but his head is tipped back and resting on the back of the couch, mouth slightly agape.

Claire and Luke watch him a moment, both internally debating whether to wake him.

Claire reaches over and picks up the blanket she’d folded earlier to drape it over their sleeping friend.

“Or I’ll just text Colleen and we can all just call it a night.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I hope it wasn't boring! I wanted to try and get inside Claire's head a bit and got kind of wrapped up in it once I started. I just love her character! Kudos and comments are very much appreciated. Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo.... While I've been in the background for a while reading fanfiction, this is the first one I'm writing myself. Thank you so much for reading! I welcome any feedback, good or bad, so please let me know what you think! I need constructive criticism.


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